Former Prison Commissioner Milton Pringle did not get the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandella, but visiting Robben Island and seeing Mandella's cell remained the highlight of his recent South African trip.

Mr. Pringle was a part of Pam Maybury's escorted tour from C-Travel and while World Cup cricket was the main attraction, there was plenty more for the group of 20 Bermudians to see in the diverse country.

They saw the Cape Winelands, historical museums, Kruger National Park, Victoria Falls, saw the opening ceremony of the World Cup and stayed in 11 hotels during the 24-day tour. For cricket lover Milton Pringle, visiting Robben Island and learning about Nelson Mandella's imprisonment for opposing the Apartheid Government made up for the disappointment of seeing the West Indies team's early elimination.

The Bermuda group did the Walk to Freedom Tour soon after arriving in Cape Town, experiencing the various cultures of the Cape as they also visited townships, including Langa, the oldest apartheid housing scheme in the Western Cape townships.

"The Freedom Walk was a described as a place where they unsettled people during the apartheid era," explained Mr. Pringle.

"People were happy to come back since Mr. Mandella was freed and reorganised the country. He is still very active, but is taking a break this year to finish off his book, so I didn't meet him.

"However, we did tour Robben Island where he was held and the tour guide, with tears in his eyes, was telling us about the days when he was held and how when the prison staff had problems they would ask him to mediate. So even when he was in jail they treated him with some respect - but they still robbed him of his life!

"I admire the man, I think it was a modern day miracle when he was released and was able to come back. That (visiting Robben Island) was the highlight of my trip as a prison person."

The tour guide - known as Neville - was held at Robben Island himself as a political prisoner, according to Mr. Pringle, for voicing his opposition to apartheid policies.

"He was protesting how they were giving the young white people education but at the same time robbing the blacks by not educating them," said Mr. Pringle.

"What I appreciated about him was he still had the venom in him. He showed us the cell where they kept Mandella and the cells at Casemates were bigger than the cell they had Mandella in. All he had was a bed and a little desk where he did his work.

"He never lost his attitude to life, and that's why he came out with a perspective of no vengeance against anyone. He reunited the country and I believe he will go down in history as one of the persons whom South Africa will never forget."

Brochures describe Robben Island as "the prison that symbolises South Africa's triumph of freedom and human dignity over repression and humiliation, a triumph of wisdom and largeness of spirit against small minds and pettiness, a triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness, a triumph of non-racial over bigotry and intolerance, a triumph of the New South Africa over the old".

Mr. Pringle is impressed with the way black South Africans have gone about their lives in post-apartheid, not dwelling on the past.

"My biggest disappointment was the townships," said Mr. Pringle.

"I would have thought with the riches of South Africa - with their natural resources - they would try to eradicate that. The shanty towns are nothing but fire hazards, built out of plywood. They don't put any of that in their brochures.

"The townships were very prominent in Johannesburg and Cape Town. What annoyed me most was when we travelled out to the areas they are building and saw the beautiful homes they were building for whites."

The Bermuda group was kept busy during their three weeks in the country, watching the West Indies play their first four group matches and also taking in tours to various parks to see the wild animals in their natural environment. They also visited Victoria Falls which borders Zimbabwe and Zambia.

"The group was proud to display our Bermuda flag at the games and we made many contacts with African nationals," said Mr. Pringle who celebrated his 65th birthday while in South Africa.

"Our group really gelled and enjoyed ourselves, even people who had never met before. For my birthday they all rallied around me, bought me presents, cake, wine. I really enjoyed that.

"South Africa is a beautiful country and I would encourage anyone who is really serious about black history to visit the place and see what it is all about.

"I enjoyed meeting the people, they were always very friendly and willing to help and wanted to teach us the language but we weren't there long enough to learn it."

South Africa is known for its class distinction - whites, Indians, coloureds and blacks - and Mr. Pringle said "they are still trying to keep some of that going".

"One person said to me `Mr. Pringle don't worry about it because we blacks are getting along with our lives, we don't have time to go back'.

"I asked questions and went out to talk to the younger people. You go on a tour and you can get caught up in the fun of it. I enjoyed that but at the same time I talked to people and challenged them with their ideas.

"One guy made it quite clear to me `I'm a white fella, my family is from Scotland and I was born here, but I'm happy today because now my children can play with who they want to play with. When I was growing up I couldn't do that, I didn't have the choice of playing with blacks'."

Mr. Pringle noticed some of the richer blacks moving into previously all-white neighbourhoods and even saw interracial couples which was illegal before apartheid was dismantled.

"It's evident that country is going to rise - and rise big," he believes.

"You can see the country growing, and they like to see visitors."